


Helicopters

by influorescence



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, First Meetings, Human AU, M/M, Prompt Fill, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-19 14:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1473781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/influorescence/pseuds/influorescence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: kaworu tries to visit shinji at his job in a mall kiosk that sells RC helicopters<br/>for finn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Helicopters

Shinji sighed and let his head drop onto his folded arms. It had been a slow day at the kiosk, a typical weekday, long stretches of unrelenting boredom interspersed with shooing kids away from the choppers. He wondered how the kiosk even stayed in business. Remote-control helicopters weren't exactly high in demand; it was the third day in a row with no sales. The monotony was such that he'd probably just walk away if it weren't for Misato, the owner, being a longtime family friend and an almost-mother figure in place of his neglectful father. Shinji figured he owed her a few days of manning the stall while she pranced off to Vegas with her on-again, off-again boyfriend (a business trip, she'd said defensively, as if Shinji were still nine years old and naive enough to believe that a tiny toy kiosk in a shopping center warranted any kind of trip).

He raised his head to check the clock across the hall, and did a double-take at the boy walking out of the shoe store. Grey hair, that was a new one. Shinji had seen plenty of strange fashions over the past week – the hazards of working near a Hot Topic – but the combination of such oddly colored hair with an ordinary high school uniform was just enough to catch his eye.  _Must be some weird new trend,_ he mused, so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the boy wandering right up to the kiosk. 

"Shinji. We meet again." He jerked in surprise as the boy leaned against the counter, smiling dreamily. Shinji mentally cursed the name tag that allowed any old weirdo to act like they knew him. 

"Sorry, do I know you?" he said stiffly. The boy blinked at him, and Shinji suppressed the urge to gape. What kind of person wore red contact lenses on a school day?

"It's me, Kaworu," the boy said. "I've been waiting so long for this day." When Shinji gave him a blank look, Kaworu sighed. "You Lilin really are so forgetful."

"What are you even talking about?" Shinji said. He was beginning to fidget under Kaworu's persistent stare. Kaworu shook his head in mock hopelessness. 

"Well, if we're really going to do this, we might as well do it properly." He stuck out his hand. "My name is Kaworu Nagisa. It's nice to meet you again, Shinji Ikari."

"It's... er, nice to meet you, too." Shinji reached out to shake Kaworu's hand, but as their palms made contact, a jolt ran up Shinji's spine and his heart jumped in his chest. A warmth rose in his cheeks as Kaworu grasped his hand, and before he could think, he raised his other hand and reached for Kaworu's face. His fingertips were an inch from Kaworu's cheek when he realized what he was doing and froze, his other hand still enveloped in the warmth of Kaworu's hand. Kaworu's eyes were wide, and Shinji fumbled to explain himself. "I – um –"

The moment seemed to stretch on for hours, and then Kaworu was leaning into his hand, closing his eyes, and opening them again to blink slowly at Shinji. Shinji's mouth went dry, and he licked his lips. Kaworu's eyes darted to Shinji's mouth, and – and –

Kaworu pulled away and released Shinji's hand, smiling in that carefree way. Shinji lurched back and flushed in embarrassment, suddenly aware that he had been leaning forward. "I'll see you around, Shinji," said Kaworu. And just like that, Shinji was watching him walk away across the mall, hands in his pockets. 

Abruptly self-conscious, Shinji jerked his eyes from Kaworu's retreating back to glance at the clock and was overwhelmingly grateful to see that it was closing time. With more haste than was strictly necessary, he packed away the boxes of helicopters and unintentionally slammed the shutters, startling one of the departing shoppers. He yanked open the drawer to retrieve his belongings and his flurry of motion came to a screeching halt.

Nestled between his keys and cell phone was his name tag.

**Author's Note:**

> finn gave me this prompt in december and it's april now sorry finn
> 
> i haven't written recreationally in years and this is my first fanfiction and i didn't even bother planning this i just... ran with it... and it kind of happened by itself...


End file.
